SNOW HILL — Winning an award for architecture is a foundational symbol for Greene County Intermediate School’s vision to be environmentally conscious.

The school opened in August with a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) blueprint that landed it a first place Excellence in Architectural Design Award in November, with Greene County Schools receiving the plaque last week.

The intermediate school opened in August and was built because of crowding at Snow Hill Primary and West Greene Elementary schools.

The pristine building is saving energy and reducing overall school costs, like utility bills. It was designed by Moseley Architects, based in Raleigh.

“Most of the accolades should go to Moseley Architects,” said GCS Superintendent Patrick Miller. “They took our feedback and designed a wonderful building.”

Miller said he believes the school’s opening makes it the first LEED school in North Carolina east of I-95.

The award — presented by the North Carolina School Boards Association — hangs on a school wall along with eight plaques that represent a LEED element being implemented by the school, such as water, recycling and even noise.

“You can walk down the hallway, look in the classroom and see them very active,” said Principal Debbie Daniell about the students. “But you cannot hear anything. The noise does not transfer.”

The walls of the school that serve 480 fourth- and fifth-graders make the rooms environmentally sound.

A LEED school requires both the design and construction aspects to be energy-efficient.

“(It’s) things like orienting the building in such a way the sun sets on a certain side and it rises on the other,” said Will Brown, a representative from JTL Construction, a local company that has worked on other GCS projects.

The school was built in 18 months at $13.6 million.

“I worked from day one to get this building here, and I’ve been here five years,” said Miller, who mentioned former superintendent Steve Mazingo also envisioned a LEED school in Greene County.

The floors and ceilings act as reflectors to utilize natural sunlight, which bellows through huge glass windows at the ends of the hallways that occupy an entire wall. All of the bathrooms have sensored sinks, and the school’s air conditioners have high-caliber filter systems.

The building provides a learning opportunity for students.

“In (the students’) curriculum, they talk a lot about recycling,” Daniell said. “We talk about how it is a building that encourages a lot of environmentally friendly stuff.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

BREAKOUT BOX:

LEED Features at GreeneCountyIntermediateSchool

Energy

Water

Air

Waste

Recycle

Local

Noise

Greene County Intermediate School

614 Middle School Road

252-747-0181

Principal, Debbie Daniell

For more information about LEED certification, visit new.usgbc.org/leed